How Can Personal Care at Home Help Your Senior Stay Cool This Summer?

Summer heat is something that a lot of people look forward to all winter, but it can be dangerous for your senior. Between age-related changes and hotter temperatures than ever, there’s a lot for your senior to manage during the hotter months. It’s a good idea to get help for your elderly family member so that she’s got someone watching out for her when the weather outside is getting hotter and hotter.

Choose Appropriate Clothing for the Weather

If it’s difficult for your senior to get dressed or she tends to choose clothing that doesn’t help her to stay protected from sun and heat, that can all be a problem. Personal care at home can help your senior to choose clothing that works for the weather outside and also ensure that she’s safe while getting dressed. Loose, light clothing is the best option, and if your senior’s wardrobe doesn’t have a lot of those choices for her, you might want to help her make some changes.

Keep Tabs on Internal Temperatures at Home

Very often aging adults aren’t always in tune with what the actual temperature is, even inside. That can lead to dangerous habits like not turning on the air conditioner or not using fans to circulate cooler air. Home care providers can stay alert to what is happening in terms of inside temperatures and make sure your elderly family member’s environment is as comfortable as possible.

Assist with Hydration

Staying hydrated is another way to help your senior’s body to stay as cool as it needs to be during hot weather. But if hydration is difficult enough any day of the year, you might want to find other ways to help your senior to stay properly hydrated. Personal care at home can remind your elderly family member to keep sipping on cool water, for instance, and keep track of how much water she’s drinking overall.

Watch for Signs of Heat-related Illnesses

Heat-related illnesses can strike quickly, especially for older adults who have a more difficult time regulating their body temperature. Personal care at home can stay alert for signs of heat-related issues, like dizziness, nausea, or muscle cramps along with dehydration. Getting help as soon as possible is the key to getting through these heat-related illnesses.

Assist with Sunscreen and Staying Healthy in the Sun

Another way that elder care providers can help is by reminding your senior to stay safe in the sun if she does happen to go outside during hot weather. That can include helping her to put sunscreen on regularly and ensuring she’s staying in shaded areas. When your senior does go outside, it should be during the cooler parts of the day, like in the morning and evening hours. Going outside in the hottest parts of the day can be a recipe for disaster.

Hot weather is no joke for seniors. The symptoms of heat-related issues can occur for seniors very quickly and if your elderly family member doesn’t notice what’s happening she can end up in the danger zone very quickly.